The price of lies: putin hands out awards to propagandists en masse
In just the first month of autumn, putin signed three separate decrees awarding more than 100 employees of the propaganda «channel one» — from top managers and presenters to directors and editors.
The dictator honoured the propagandists «for services in the field of mass media», but in reality, this amounts to a reward for their participation in the information war and justification of aggression against Ukraine.
putin’s regime has used a similar «wholesale» approach to awarding propagandists before. Similar mass award ceremonies were held during the annexation of Crimea in 2014, as well as after the start of the full-scale invasion.
The regularity of such awards indicates the regime’s growing dependence on its propaganda apparatus amid the prolongation of the war and deepening socio-economic problems in russia.
The mass awarding of state honours to «channel one» employees is a deliberate kremlin policy of buying loyalty and involving media workers in shared responsibility for war crimes.
